


on our way home

by woodchoc_magnum



Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [19]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Domestic Fluff, Firehouse 118 Family Feels (9-1-1 TV), Firehouse 118 as Family (9-1-1 TV), M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, just a smidge of smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:06:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28649514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodchoc_magnum/pseuds/woodchoc_magnum
Summary: In which Buck, Eddie and Christopher move into their new house, and the 118 lends a helping hand.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816843
Comments: 119
Kudos: 433





	1. Chapter 1

**Christopher**

"Dads," Christopher called from his bedroom. "Dads, help."

"Coming," Buck shouted from the kitchen, and a few moments later, appeared in the doorway. "What's up, kiddo?"

He held up two stuffed frogs. "Which one should I keep?"

"Both," Buck said instantly.

Christopher groaned, thumping his heel on the floor. "No, I'm supposed to be _killing._ "

"Culling," Buck corrected, crouching in front of him, examining the frogs. "Well, this one has one eye."

"My mom got it for me."

"And a frog with one eye means it needs extra love, so you should keep it," he said diplomatically.

Christopher sighed again, holding out the other, fatter, fluffier frog. "But this one dad got for me."

"Uh huh." Buck scratched his chin, and took the fatter frog. "How about I keep this one?"

"We're supposed to be throwing things _away._ "

Buck pouted, hugging the frog to his chest. "But I like it and I want it. I could put it in my locker at work? As a good luck charm?"

Christopher thought about it for a moment – that sounded like a good idea to him, so he nodded, smiling up at Buck. "Okay. Am I doing good?"

Buck looked between both piles on the floor and said, "Which one is the giveaway pile?"

Christopher pointed to the slightly smaller one. "That."

"Then you're doing great, kiddo. And don't stress too much, all right? Don't throw away something you really like. Make sure you keep the important things." Buck rose to his feet, stretching his arms over his head. "Back to the kitchen."

"Buck," Christopher said, just before Buck left the room. "Did you check to see if the house was haunted before you bought it?"

Buck paused, and then said, "I asked Bobby to check and he said it was fine."

"Okay."

"Okay." Buck gave him a double thumbs up, and returned to the kitchen.

Christopher knew he was lying about Bobby checking for ghosts, but that was okay. His friend Dylan had told him a story about how one night he'd been trying to go to sleep when his closet door opened, and then closed, and then opened, and then closed again, and when he sat up and looked at it, he could see glowing eyes inside.

Christopher remembered the night he'd seen weirdly glowing eyes, but before he could yell for help Max had jumped up on the bed and meowed until he'd patted him. Max's eyes did weird things in the dark, but Dad said that was a cat thing.

Part of him thought that Dylan was lying, because he'd also lied about seeing John Cena at the mall, but _he_ would be lying if he didn't admit to himself that moving into an all new bedroom downstairs from Dad and Buck was a little worrying. He wasn't going to tell them that, though. He was ten, turning eleven – he could handle it.

The back door banged open. "I think we'll get rid of most of the stuff in the shed," Dad called, and then paused, waiting for Buck's reply. "Buck? We'll take a load to the garbage dump on Sunday."

"Sounds good; there's plenty of stuff we can get rid of," Buck's voice wafted back.

Christopher looked up as Dad stopped in his doorway, sweaty and dirty. "How are you going, buddy?" he asked, fiddling with his watch strap. "I could clean up and give you a hand, if you want?"

Christopher looked at the mess on his floor and said, "I can do it."

Dad eyed him, and then said, "Well, when you divvy everything up, you just tell me where it's going and I'll help put it in boxes. We're going over to the house in an hour, okay? To meet Chimney and Bobby and do some measuring up."

"When are we moving in?" Christopher asked him curiously.

"In two weeks," Dad replied, flashing him a smile. "We've got a Saturday and Sunday off, so we'll move over then. We're going to get your room all ready to go, so Buck will take you to the hardware store to pick out a paint colour for your walls."

"Green," he said instantly, and then changed his mind. "No. Blue."

"Whatever you want, pal. Your choice." Dad dropped to his knees on the floor, examining the two piles of toys. He lifted the stuffed frog with one eye and held it up, gazing at it fondly. "I got you this when you were a baby," he said with a smile on his face. "I was overseas but I bought it online and had it sent to the house for you. You used to sleep with it every night."

Christopher was surprised, and took it out of his hands. "I thought Mom got it and you got me the other one."

"Both. I picked this one out, but your Mom made sure you had it with you." Dad leaned in and whispered, "Frogs are much cooler than teddy bears."

Christopher nodded, though he also liked his teddy bear, and reached out to give him a hug. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, kiddo. I know this is a big change, but once we're all settled in, it's going to be really good. I promise."

~

He liked the house. It was white and it looked like proper home. It was much bigger than their little house, and Dad said that was because they were going to have a big family one day.

Christopher was a little nervous about that – he loved having Dad and Buck all to himself – but he was also excited about the prospect of being an older brother. He thought he would be pretty good at it, and he loved playing with Charlotte, though he didn't like it so much when she screamed.

Dad and Buck had signed all the papers for the house on the Friday just gone, and all three of them had gone over that afternoon and toasted in the empty kitchen (Christopher had apple juice, Dad and Buck had a bottle of champagne). He'd picked out his room – the same he'd liked from the very start – and then they'd walked around and made notes about what needed to be done before they could move in.

Christopher wasn't too interested in that, but he did like the carpet and paint swatches that Buck gave to him as they walked inside the house, with Bobby and Chimney following behind.

"All right, kiddo," Buck said, sitting down with him on the floor. "Your job is to pick out exactly what you want, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, laying everything out in front of him. "What if you don't like it?"

"I'm sure I will. We're just going to be doing some measuring; you call me if you need me." Buck patted his shoulder and then stood, jogging over to where Dad was arguing with Chimney.

Christopher spread the paint colours out in front of him. Buck had thrown in a couple of crazy colours for fun – Christopher had already decided that he would select the bright orange just to see the look of horror on his dad's face – but he knew what he wanted. A deep, dark blue – they'd gone out in a boat while they were in Hawaii, and the water changed colours as they travelled further away from land. His favourite was when it was a perfect shade of sapphire blue – it was magic; it was so beautiful. He wanted that colour for his walls.

He set the colour aside, but put the orange on top of it, and then focused on the carpet swatches. He had no idea what would go with his blue walls so he chose a grey carpet that was soft and fluffy. He thought Max would probably like it.

That decided, he climbed to his feet and decided to wander around the house. The wallpaper was ugly, and he heard Dad telling Buck that they'd make another trip to the hardware store to decide what colour to paint the interior. He bypassed Chimney up on a ladder, examining a light fixture, and made his way to the stairs.

He climbed them slowly and carefully, one at a time, holding onto the railing – he could hear the others talking and laughing towards the back of the house as he ascended, but the top floor was quiet. He wandered down the hall, past the room that Dad said would be a nursery, and to the master bedroom at the end. Dad and Buck's room was big, but somehow the wallpaper was even uglier – big pink roses. The last time he'd been in the house this room had been jammed with furniture, but now it was empty, and he could see the worn carpet, and how faded the wallpaper was.

There was a walk-in cupboard, and Christopher tugged open the door, examining the sagging shelves, before wandering over to the large windows overlooking the backyard.

"Christopher?" he heard Dad calling, a little frantically. "Chris?"

"In here," he yelled back, leaning on the wall for support.

Footsteps thudded down the hallway and then Dad stepped into the room, shaking his head at him good-naturedly. "I came out to see what colour you'd picked and you were gone! Vanished!"

"You and Buck were in the kitchen," he replied, turning to look out the window again. "Are we gonna make this place nice?"

"Yeah, we will, but it's going to take a little time. We'll fix up the walls and floors before we move in, and the rest can wait for a while." Dad dropped to his knees on the floor, gazing up at him affectionately. "You're okay, buddy? You like the house?"

Christopher nodded. "It's different."

"It's really different, but I think we're going to be happy here."

"I'm happy wherever you and Buck are."

Dad smiled at him, holding his arms out, and Christopher stepped into them. "Thanks, kiddo," he said, kissing his cheek. "Remember we talked about planting a tree or a garden for Mom in the backyard? We'll definitely do that. I promise."

"She'd like that."

"Yeah, she would." Dad hugged him tightly. "Okay. Let's go see what the others are doing."

* * *

**Chimney**

"You see, the problem is the fact that whoever lived in this house before you two had the worst taste in wallpaper in the known universe," Chimney said to Buck, snapping his gum, "and now we're going to have to figure out how to make this place liveable. You're going to have to rip all of this down."

"We know," Buck replied, giving him a look like he was the dumbest person on the planet. "Do you think we bought this place and went, oh wow, this floral wallpaper is delightful? Let's leave it all up?"

"Honestly, with you two, I never really know," he replied, wandering over to the windows. Paint was peeling from the sills; coming off on his fingers when he touched it. "I mean, look at this. We're going to have to sand this whole place, and you guys want to move in next weekend?"

"Weekend after next," Buck replied, kneeling down to examine a stain on the carpet. "But _we're_ not doing that. We have painters booked for Monday, and the floor coverings will be installed once the painting is complete."

"I thought you hadn't picked anything."

"We had to make some fast decisions; we figure we can fix it up later if we have to." Buck shrugged at him. "We don't want Christopher to be too disrupted."

Bobby wandered into the room, holding up his phone. "It's not just the interior that needs painting. Outside will need doing as well. You had the roof checked, right?"

"The roof was replaced after the quake in 2018," Buck replied.

"And you had this place checked for quake damage?"

"No, we wanted a place that would fall down around us," Eddie said sarcastically, striding into the room with Christopher in his arms.

Chimney grinned at him. "What are you going to do when your son is too big for you to carry around like a monkey?"

Eddie looked at Christopher, who stuck his tongue out at Chimney. "Buck will grab his legs and I'll hold his arms," Eddie replied, setting Christopher down on the floor again. "Easy. What's going on?"

"I was just telling them about the painters," Buck replied, slipping an arm around Eddie's shoulders.

"And how much is this costing?" Bobby asked him knowingly.

"We can afford it," Buck replied. "We took it into consideration when we were buying, and Eddie's dad recommended the painters – apparently he's gotten us a good deal."

"I think maybe one or both of you should be here for this, don't you?" Bobby asked. "Do we need to move some shifts around?"

"Bags not working with Buck," Chimney said, grinning when Buck shot him a warning look.

"I think it kind of works out," Eddie replied, consulting the calendar on his phone. "I'm off Monday and Tuesday during the day but working Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and then I'm off again until Friday. Buck and I don't have any shifts together this week."

"Okay, as long as you're sure," Bobby replied. "I can move things around if I need to."

"Nah, we've already been called out for favouritism," Buck replied dryly.

"Captain's favourites," Chimney teased.

"Jealous," Buck murmured.

"Careful, or you're out as groomsman."

Buck chuckled, pulling Eddie in so he could kiss his cheek. "I think it'll be okay," he said, looking around the bare living room. "I think it's going to look great when it's all done."

"Dads, I've picked the colour," Christopher shouted, and held up a garish orange. "Do you like it?"

They all laughed, but Eddie said, "No take-backs, that's the colour. Right?"

"No!"

"No take-backs! Orange it is!"

"No! _Dad!_ "

~

Chimney arrived home to find Maddie on the phone with one of Eddie's sisters – he guessed Adriana, from the low voice Maddie was using to speak into the phone. He kissed her on the cheek and knelt beside Charlotte's playpen, passing toys back and forth with her for a few minutes until Maddie ended the call.

"Sorry," she said, and let out an inadvertent yawn. "Oh god, sorry. That was Adriana giving me an update."

"How is Sophia?"

"She's… pulled away again. Not reaching out to her family." Maddie looked troubled. "I remember what it was like, Chim."

He settled down on the floor, gazing over at her with concern. "I know. And I don't know what to suggest. Eddie hasn't mentioned anything, but that doesn't mean that there aren't things going on that we don't know about. He can play his cards pretty close to his chest when he wants to."

"Is it too much to hope that they're making arrangements and she's going to leave him?" she asked unhappily. "She's such a strong woman. I hate to see this happen."

"I genuinely don't know, but she's a Diaz – and if there's one thing I know about the Diaz family, it's that they're all tough and practical. I really think Sophia will be okay," he said, mostly to reassure her – there was nothing that any of them could do about it if Sophia didn't want the help. "The boys have painters coming to the house next week. It'll look a million times better when they strip out that wallpaper."

Maddie brightened, her face lighting up. "I was kinda hoping they'd leave it for a while," she admitted. "Seeing them in grandma's house really made me laugh."

"I mean, you never know what colours they've picked," he said with a grin. "Buck and Eddie aren't exactly known for their decorating tastes."

"You've seen Eddie's house at Christmas—"

"His Abuela did that."

Maddie shook her head. "No way. That's all Eddie. He keeps those decorations packed away in a plastic tub and puts them out every single year. Buck told me about it. Eddie's the one who mostly decorates the tree as well – Christopher supervises, and Eddie puts the ornaments on. He's very fussy."

"No," Chimney objected, and then thought about it for a moment. "I suppose… he was in the army."

"The army didn't teach him decorating skills. That stuff is built in," she said knowingly, tapping the side of her head. "Anyway, I'm sure whatever colours he's picked are going to look lovely."

* * *

**Christopher**

It was Monday, and school was boring.

Usually he liked school a lot but math was his least favourite subject, and he was pretty sure he'd flunked the quiz they'd had earlier in the day.

So he was in an uncharacteristic bad mood, reading a book in the library at lunch instead of playing with his friends, when there was a noticeable tremor beneath his feet, and the room began to shake.

Immediately the librarian swung into action, calling for everyone to take cover. Christopher slid from his seat and underneath the table with a couple of other kids to ride it out. It wasn't a long quake, and it definitely wasn't as strong as the other two he'd experienced. Aside from a couple of magazine racks toppling over, there was no other damage to the library.

When the earth stopped moving, Christopher struggled to his feet, reaching for his crutches. The librarian noticed him and hurried over, calling for everyone to head outside to the evacuation area. She walked with him, and helped him find his classmates.

Some kids were screaming, others were laughing, but they lined up as they'd been taught and went through a roll call. Dylan ended up beside him, kicking the dirt with his sneakers, and said, "Are your dads working today?"

"Only Buck is," he replied, shifting back and forth on his crutches uncomfortably. "Dad was supervising at our new house."

"Your dads are so cool. My dad just watches football."

"They do that too, but not all the time."

* * *

**Hen**

They hadn't been at the station when the quake hit – they were across town, on Rodeo Drive of all places. A woman had lost her damn mind in a high end boutique and following an argument with the shop assistants, had taken a dive out of the plate glass window. She took with her three mannequins and two expensive handbags, and earned herself a trip to the hospital in the ambulance, and possible criminal charges.

Hen was riding in the engine for a change, and the ambulance had just trundled away when the world began to shake. She stumbled and almost fell, but Buck grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up and over to the footpath, away from danger. Palm trees and billboards swayed back and forth but didn't fall, and cars pulled over as the quake struck.

"What do you think?" Buck asked her when the shaking stopped. "Four? Five?"

"Five," she replied confidently. "Ten bucks?"

"You're on, I say high four." Buck slapped her hand and jogged over to the engine, where Bobby was already on the radio with dispatch.

He ended the call and held his hands over his head. "Okay, everyone," he called, "we've had reports that two cars have gone over the side of Mulholland Drive up in the hills. We're going to head up there now. Buck, I'm going to need you on the ropes."

"Copy that, Cap," Buck replied, though a troubled look crossed his face.

As they were dismissed, Hen grabbed Buck's elbow. "What's wrong?"

He flashed a tense grin. "Oh, nothing. Eddie and I try not to do rope stuff without each other, but it's okay. It's just… he's weird about it. He worries about me."

"He loves you," she said, prodding him in the chest. "And Chim's not here today either, but you'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on things for you."

"Thanks, Hen. Did you hear from Karen?"

"Yep, she and the kids are okay. Eddie's checked in?"

Buck held up his phone, as a stream of love hearts from his husband filled the screen. "I'm pretty sure the earth was still shaking when he sent me the first message. He's been at the house all day with the painters."

~

One car was at the bottom of the valley on its roof, and the other was halfway down the embankment, still on four wheels, caught up on trees and rocks. Hen helped Buck into his harness, as a group of firefighters made their way down a winding path to the bottom of the valley to check the second car.

One of their newer recruits, Mike Cooper, was running the pulley, with Bobby nearby in case anything went wrong. Hen made sure that Buck was clipped in, patted his shoulders and said, "Slow and steady."

Buck smiled at her confidently. "Slow and steady," he repeated. "All right, Coop – start lowering me down. It's pretty windy, so go easy on me."

"No worries, Buck, I've got this," Cooper said confidently.

Hen took a step back from the edge, readying the basket in case it needed to be sent down as well. They were on their own – Bobby had already asked about having a chopper meet them, but there were people needing to be rescued all over the city.

She leaned over the edge to watch Buck's descent. He was about fifteen feet above the car when a huge gust of wind blew through, but he was able to brace himself on the rock wall and hold on until it passed.

"Steady," his voice came over the radio. "Just slow down a bit, Coop."

"Copy that, Buck."

Bobby kept a watchful eye on Cooper while Hen tracked Buck's progress. He reached the car and radioed them to stop lowering, and then checked inside the vehicle.

His voice came through a moment later. "The driver is still inside the vehicle, deceased, but there could be another victim down below. There's a hole in the windshield and lots of blood, Cap."

"I'll radio the others. Can you see anything from your position?"

"Give me a second."

Hen sat back on her haunches, shaking her head. "This is horrible. These poor people."

Buck's voice came over the radio again a few moments later. "Cap – yeah, I can see a body at the bottom of the valley here. I'm going to double-check the car and radio when I'm ready to be lifted."

"Copy that, Buck." Bobby leaned over the edge as well. "I can't imagine anyone survived this."

"Bad, bad luck," she agreed. "Wrong place, wrong time."

There was another huge gust of wind. Hen squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing, and then heard Buck say, "Cap, the rest of the car is clear. It's jammed up pretty good, but I think if we attached a line to it we'd be able to winch it up."

"Okay, Buck. We'll send down the line so you can attach it, and then bring you back up."

~

By the time Buck had secured the car, the wind had picked up considerably. The rest of the team had located the car at the bottom of the valley and found no survivors, and were working to retrieve the bodies.

Buck's call came over the radio. "Okay, the car is secure. I'm ready to go."

"Copy that." Bobby turned to Cooper and said, "Keep it steady, Coop, but pick up the pace a little. I don't want Buck getting thrown around by the wind too much."

"Okay, Cap."

Hen leaned over to watch Buck's progress. He was about halfway up, pressed against the rock face, when the wind picked up again, and Buck lost his grip on the wall and swung out.

"Careful!" she shouted at Cooper. "He's away from the wall!"

Later she regretted that, and blamed herself, because Cooper panicked. He began to haul Buck upwards too quickly, which sent him crashing into the rock face hard, and then, when Bobby radioed him frantically to see if he was all right, Cooper seemed to confuse the controls and Buck dropped by about five feet.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted into the radio, as the wind blew through again. "Fuck, I'm getting slammed down here!"

"Cooper, stop," Bobby ordered, holding out a hand to him. "Hen, take over."

"I can do this," Cooper argued, pushed the wrong control _again_ , and Buck went spinning out over the canyon. Hen watched him grab the rope desperately, and as he spun it wrapped around his arm before he was slammed against the rocks again.

"Stop!" she screamed at Cooper. "Stop what you're doing, right now."

"Take over," Bobby said to her, pulling Cooper away from the controls and then leaning over to check on Buck again. "Buck, are you okay?"

There was a long silence, as Hen settled herself behind the controls, trying to control her pounding heart. Buck finally replied, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just get me the fuck out of here."

"Hen's taken over. Just hang on."

The wind had died down, so Hen called him over the radio. "Buck, are you ready?"

"Yep."

"Then let's do this quick."

She made efficient work of it, hauling him back up to the top of the cliff. Bobby helped him up and over the side, and it was then that they realised that he was bleeding – blood was dripping down the side of his face, staining his uniform.

"Let me check you out," Hen said to him worriedly, pulling him aside. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, his voice tight. "I'm okay. It's just a bit of blood."

"Let me see your arm," she said insistently, but he pulled away from her. "Buck."

"I'm okay," he said again, unbuckling the harness. "I'm fine."

~

Buck wasn't fine. He was silent in the engine on the way back to the station, and she could see that his right sleeve was streaked with blood. He kept clenching and unclenching his fist, staring out the window silently.

If he wasn't prepared to let her look at him, she would just have to call his husband, and so she sent Eddie a text and asked him to meet them at the station.

* * *

**Christopher**

Carla was supposed to pick him up after school, so he was surprised when he found Dad waiting for him at the entrance. "What's wrong?" he asked, instantly worried.

Dad flashed him a tight, tense smile and said, "Buck had an accident at work; we're going to go check on him."

"At the hospital?" he asked fearfully.

"No, he's still at work, but Hen called and said I should stop by. Come on, buddy. How did you go during the earthquake? You guys evacuated okay?" Dad walked alongside him as they made their way to the car.

"Yeah, it was okay; Miss Mitchell walked with me to the evacuation point."

"The librarian?"

He nodded. "I was reading when the earthquake hit."

Dad stopped, kneeling down. "You usually play with your friends at lunch," he said, gazing at him with concern. "Is everything okay?"

Christopher nodded. "I just wanted to read my book."

Dad studied him. "You know, you could tell me if someone—"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head vigorously. "No, I just… I'm bad at math, Dad. And I try really hard at the quizzes but I always do badly."

Dad sat back on his heels, his lips twisting thoughtfully. "Well, I wasn't very good at it either," he replied. "Because math is boring."

Christopher nodded emphatically.

"Maybe you need a little extra help with it, that's all," Dad suggested. "How about I make a time to talk to your teacher?"

He grimaced, scuffing his shoe on the cement. "No."

"Do you want Buck and I to look at your homework tonight after you've done it? Do you have the quiz with you?"

He sighed impatiently. " _No._ "

He loved his Dad – _loved_ his Dad, more than anything in the whole world – but he didn't want to show him the quiz and have him be disappointed. He hated when his Dad worried about him; he just wanted to be happy all the time, because Dad and Buck were so happy. He didn't want to make them worry about him.

Dad was clearly unconvinced, but he rubbed Christopher's shoulders with both hands, and gestured to the truck. "Come on, kiddo," he said gently. "We'll talk about it later. Let's go see how Buck is."

Once they were in the car, Christopher said, "Is he really hurt, Dad?"

"I think just some cuts and bruises, and maybe a little bit of pride," Dad replied, flashing him a smile in the rearview mirror. "He's a tough nut; he'll be okay."

Dad put some music on as they drove to the station, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, his wedding ring glinting in the sun. They passed a couple of smashed cars and had to take a detour around some downed power lines, finally pulling up in the parking lot of the 118.

He really didn't like being carried around too much anymore, but he wasn't going to complain about it when Dad was worrying about Buck. He let Dad lift him out of the backseat and carry him into the station, where Hen met them at the door.

"He's in the locker room," she said, ruffling Christopher's hair by way of greeting. "I know he's bleeding but he wouldn't let me take a look at it. I thought you might have more luck."

"Okay," he replied. "What happened?"

"An accident on the ropes. Cooper was running the pulley, he got flustered and Buck took a couple of big hits," she said in a low voice. "He's been pretty quiet ever since it happened. Don't take it out on Cooper—"

"No, I know, he's still learning. I should've been here," Dad muttered unhappily. "Okay. I'll take a look. Come on, kiddo."

Dad carried him into the locker room, searching for Buck, and finally found him in the showers, wearing a blue LAFD t-shirt with dark stains on one side. "What are you doing here?" Buck asked them, concerned. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine; we came to check on you." Dad set him down on a bench near the door, and went to Buck's side. "Let me see. Rope burns?"

Buck nodded glumly.

"Sit down, okay? Why didn't you want Hen to take a look at this?"

"I just… was going to deal with it myself."

Buck sounded and looked about as unhappy as Christopher had ever seen him. Dad gave him a reassuring kiss and then jogged out of the room, and Christopher scooted closer to Buck, cuddling up to him.

"What happened?" he whispered.

Buck draped his left arm around Christopher's shoulders. "I had a bit of an accident," he said ruefully. "You guys didn't have to come down here."

"We were worried about you."

"Thanks, kiddo. How'd you go today? Pretty big earthquake, huh?"

"Not the biggest," Christopher replied with a grin, and Buck laughed.

"No, definitely not." He leaned in and whispered, "We should watch _San Andreas_ on the weekend."

Christopher nodded eagerly. "I love disaster movies."

"Me too." Buck winked at him, just as Dad returned with a black medical bag.

He knelt in front of Buck and began to examine him. "Let's have a look here," he said, carefully turning Buck's right arm. "You're going to have a nasty bruise, baby."

"You haven't seen my ribs yet," Buck replied, just as Hen rounded the corner.

"Hey," she said, leaning against the wall. "You okay, Buckaroo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"He's sore," Dad corrected, wiping down Buck's arm with some antiseptic.

"You really took some hard hits. Are your ribs feeling okay?"

Buck nodded. "I was able to shield myself; didn't take a direct hit."

"Good. Hey Christopher, you want to come with me and check the ambulance controls? I think I might need a co-driver."

"Okay," he agreed eagerly, sliding off the bench. "Can we test the siren?"

"We can definitely test the siren." Hen took him by the hand and led him out of the locker room, but he glanced back one last time, pausing to watch as his dad pressed gentle kisses to Buck's lips, before Buck leaned forward to rest his head on Dad's shoulder. Dad murmured something to him, stroking his back, and Buck nodded.

Hen knelt down beside him and regarded him seriously. "You're very lucky," she said, patting his shoulders. "Your dads love each other very much."

"Do you think that one day someone will love me the way they love each other?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm one hundred percent sure of it," Hen said confidently. "Come on. Let's annoy everyone with the sirens."

Christopher glanced over at them one last time, watching as Dad began to wind a bandage around Buck's arm, smiling up at him. Buck leaned forward so their foreheads were touching, and then Christopher turned away, following Hen out to the ambulance.

* * *

**Eddie**

"Are you okay?" Eddie whispered to Buck, wiping blood from his cheek with a sterile pad.

"No, I'm really pissed off." Buck glanced around to make sure they were alone, finally meeting Eddie's eyes. "Look, I know he's still learning, and I know that I can't say anything to him, but… he nearly killed me."

"Yeah, I know." Eddie turned his head to the side carefully, examining the scrape on his cheek. "This is only a graze; I'll put some antiseptic on it. You didn't hit your head?"

"No, I was wearing my helmet. You didn't have to come down here, you know."

"I was going to anyway, after the earthquake. Just to check on you."

"Thanks." Buck shifted uncomfortably.

Eddie studied him, and then stood up. "Take your shirt off. I want to see."

"No, it's fine," he protested. "I'm fine."

"Babe, I'm gonna see you naked tonight. Let me have a look."

He heaved a sigh and stood, grimacing as he pulled his t-shirt up and over his head. A bruise had already formed on his right side, extending from his ribs down to his hip. There were scrapes and grazes as well, bloody and raw. Eddie turned him around, feeling his ribs. "They're not broken," Buck said. "They're okay."

"Are you sure? I really think I should take you to get an x-ray."

"Eddie, I'm sure." To demonstrate, Buck stretched his arms over his head. "See? I'm fine."

Eddie splayed a hand on his chest, just to feel his heartbeat, and murmured, "Okay."

"Okay." Buck kissed him, and sat down again.

He sat down beside him to continue cleaning his scrapes, and said in a low voice, "Something's up with Christopher."

"Oh? Bad? Not bullying again, right?"

"I don't think so. He said he flunked a math quiz today and he was unusually upset about it, and when I tried to offer some solutions he shut me down. Is this a pre-teen thing I need to get used to?"

"He flunked it?" Buck asked with concern. "That's not like him. He's always pretty good at math."

"I tried to talk to him in the car, but maybe you'll have more luck when we get home tonight," Eddie replied. "I think we need to get ahead of it, whatever it is."

"Okay. I'll talk to him." Buck lifted his arm so Eddie could cover his cuts with sterile dressings, and then said, "My nipple ring is okay, right?"

Eddie chuckled. "It's fine."

"You better check it for me, just in case."

He let out a laugh, glancing around to make sure they were alone, and leaned in to press his lips to it. "All better."

* * *

**Bobby**

"Cooper," he called, and the young firefighter shot up from where he was sitting in the gym. "I need to talk to you."

"Is Buck okay?" he asked worriedly, hurrying over to Bobby. "Did they have to take him to hospital?"

"No, Eddie's patching him up now." Bobby folded his arms across his chest and regarded him seriously. "I know you're still on probation, and I know that Buck's been teaching you how to run the winch, but you panicked today."

Cooper nodded, his eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"I think when Buck is up to it, we might get him and Eddie to go through everything with you so this doesn't happen again. You made a mistake today, but so did I – I should've pulled you off the controls sooner. So we're going to work with you on that, okay?"

"Okay, Cap. I'm really sorry. I should go apologise to Buck again—"

"No, he's with Eddie, just leave them be. He'll talk to you about it. You know what Buck's like – there won't be any hard feelings." Bobby clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Training. More training. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, good." Bobby nodded at him, and turned to find Hen and Christopher in the front of the ambulance, giggling together. "Were you two making all that noise before?" he called to them good-naturedly.

"Just doing a siren check, Cap," Hen called. "Always good to double-check that it's in working order."

"Very diligent of you, Hen," he replied, tilting his head towards the locker room. She nodded, and he went inside, searching for the boys.

He found them in the shower room. Eddie was helping Buck into his shirt, and glanced over as he walked in. "Hey Cap," he said. "He's all cleaned up."

"You could've let Hen do that," Bobby said to Buck.

He nodded. "Sorry, I was… angry."

"I know. He's waiting to apologise to you."

Buck nodded, and he and Eddie had a silent conversation with their eyes before he said, "Yeah, I'll talk to him in a bit."

"How are you feeling?" Bobby asked with concern.

"Pretty sore," he admitted. "Rope burns on my right arm, bruises on my chest."

"Lots of cuts and bruises," Eddie added, kneeling down to pack up the medical kit.

"Anything broken?"

"No, just tender. I'm okay. I've got a couple of hours left; I'll finish my shift."

Bobby nodded thoughtfully. "Okay, but if you start feeling any worse you let me know. And no heavy lifting – in fact, you can be man behind if we get a call-out. No arguments. You can start dinner."

Buck nodded. "Will do."

"All right. How's the painting going, Eddie?"

"Yeah, they work fast. The first couple of rooms are done downstairs. They're doing the back half tomorrow and then starting upstairs on Wednesday," he replied. "I'm about to head back there. Babe, do you want me to pick you up when your shift is done or are you okay to drive?"

"I'll be okay; I'll meet you at the house." Buck leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You didn't have to come down here all worried."

Eddie snorted. "Yes, I did. Refusing medical treatment and all that," he said disapprovingly. "All right, I'm off. I'll see you when you're finished."

"Love you," Buck murmured to him, squeezing his hand. "Thanks."

"Love you too." Eddie cast an apologetic look Bobby's way before kissing him quickly. "Go back to work."

"Yes, Buck, go back to work," Bobby agreed, and Buck nodded, ducking past them and back out to the station. Bobby heard him call out to Christopher, but blocked Eddie before he could leave the room. "Why didn't he want Hen to take a look?"

"He was going to patch himself up and worry about it later, he said," Eddie replied. "It's not too bad. Just some scrapes and bruises."

"But I'm guessing you were already going to come and check on him," Bobby said knowingly.

Eddie shrugged. "I don't know… maybe when the earthquake started I had a momentary flashback to the last one, where I almost lost him… maybe. He's my husband. I can't help but worry about him."

"That never goes away," Bobby said gently. "Athena and I worry about each other and we've been married for nearly three years."

Eddie nodded thoughtfully. "I just… know what he's like," he admitted. "I know that he'd sacrifice himself to save someone else, and it terrifies me. I'm so scared of losing him."

Bobby reached out to grasp Eddie's shoulder. "Things are different now," he said gently. "He knows he has a family to come home to, and being a firefighter isn't his whole identity anymore. The reckless streak is gone – Buck did everything right today."

"And yet someone else nearly let him down," Eddie pointed out.

"You're angry at Cooper," he said knowingly.

Eddie paused, and then said, "These things happen. Cooper's still learning. I'm just glad it wasn't any worse." He was being tactful, and Bobby could see right through it.

"You can't say something to Cooper about taking extra care with Buck because he's your husband," he warned him, and Eddie's eyebrows flew up. "He knows he's done wrong. I'll work with him so this never happens again, all right?"

"Cap, I wasn't going to say anything to him."

Bobby gave him a knowing look. "You might not say anything, but your _attitude_ will. Be nice."

"I am nice," Eddie protested, and then sighed. "Okay. Fine. I won't give him the cold shoulder."

"We made an agreement."

"Yeah, I know. I just… hate it when he does rope rescues and I'm not here."

"Even you would've had trouble today."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "I doubt that."

Bobby raised his eyebrows at him, and he heaved an exaggerated sigh. "You would've. All right, go back to your painting. Let me handle this."

"Yes, Cap."

They returned to the station, where Buck was carrying Christopher over to the ladder truck. "Buck," Bobby called. "I hope you're doing a siren check on both those trucks."

"Yes Cap, we're on it!" Buck called back, as Christopher squealed with delight.

* * *

**Christopher**

They went to their new house after they finished at the station, and Dad gave him a piggy-back ride, showing him the rooms that had been stripped of their ugly wallpaper. The painters had finished stripping downstairs and were working on the upstairs, and the biggest change was in the bathroom – once its walls had been covered with a swan motif, but without it – and even without a fresh coat of paint – the room actually looked _better._

"We're going to put new tiles up," Dad said to him. "You want to help me pick them out?"

"Yup."

"And I'll need help for the ones downstairs as well."

"I'm good at picking colours."

"I know. Come on."

They went back downstairs, where the painters were finishing up for the day. Christopher clung to Dad's back and waved goodbye to them, and then they went out to the backyard, where Dad and Buck had already set up a table and chairs.

"Okay," Dad said, settling him down on a seat. "You can start your homework, and I'll work over here as well."

"Tiles?"

"Yep, as soon as you finish your homework." Dad checked his watch. "Buck finishes in an hour, and he's just going to come by and see how things are looking before we go home."

Christopher looked around the backyard and said, "Dad, are we going to be happy here?"

Dad nodded, setting his backpack on the table and unzipping it. "Of course we are. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because it's so different to our house."

"Yeah, it's different, but when we're finished with it, this will feel like home too," he replied, laying Christopher's books out on the table. "When Max is here, and your room is all set up…"

"What if it's haunted?"

Dad shook his head. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"What if there's another earthquake? And this house falls down?"

Dad paused, giving him a concerned look. "Were you scared during the earthquake, buddy?"

"No." His gaze settled on his math workbook, and he pushed it aside. "No, I'm fine." He was making his dad worry again, and he didn't want that.

Dad was silent for a few minutes, before rounding the table and taking a seat beside him. "You know, nothing is going to change," he said gently. "Not right away. It'll still be the three of us."

"I'm not worried about that," he said honestly. "I'll be an awesome big brother."

Dad smiled warmly at him. "You really will," he said, and cleared his throat. "You'll be amazing at it. And listen – I know this is a huge change for all of us, but the three of us, kiddo… you, me and Buck? It's always gonna be us three. Always. We're a team."

Christopher felt inexplicably relieved, and nodded. "Okay."

Dad rested both arms on the table and leaned in close to him. "You'd tell me if something was bothering you, wouldn't you?"

He hesitated a beat too long, and Dad began to look worried. Christopher finally whispered, "It's a lot of change."

Because really, it _was_ , and he was a little overwhelmed. Soon he'd be sleeping in a whole new house, in a room downstairs from Dad and Buck, and what if something happened? What if there was a fire? What if someone broke in? What if—

Dad took his hand, pressed it to his lips and said, "You can tell me anything, kiddo. Talk to me. What's on your mind?"

He hesitated _again_ , and Dad's eyebrows knitted together with concern. "It's just… you're upstairs and I'm downstairs and I'm scared," he admitted.

Dad nodded knowingly. "Well, I have a solution for that," he said. "Your bedroom is right below our bedroom – did you know that?"

He shook his head.

"So we're going to do a couple of things, okay? There are these lamps you can get that talk to each other through the internet – so when you touch your lamp, the lamp in our room will change colour. Buck's already ordered them."

"Really?" That sounded _cool._

"Yep. And the other thing we're going to do is get walkie-talkies, so if you wake up in the middle of the night, you just call us on the walkie-talkie and we'll come running. Or you can just call us to chat – or for a snack, if you want."

He giggled at that, and reached out to his dad for a hug. "Okay."

Dad wrapped him up in a big, reassuring cuddle. "It's going to be different, but good," he said confidently, and smacked a kiss to Christopher's cheek. "I'm not saying it'll be perfect, but when the three of us are together, I know that everything will work out okay."

Christopher nodded, comforted by his dad. He loved his dad so, so, so much. The love he had for his dad was more than he could put into words. He just wanted to make his dad happy; he just wanted to make him proud – he just wanted his dad's happiness, more than anything.

* * *

**Buck**

"Do you want to read a book together?" Buck asked, examining the small stack of library books on Christopher's bedside table. "Or do you want me to read to you?"

Christopher shook his head – he seemed pretty worn out after a big day, so Buck simply knelt on the floor beside the bed, resting his head on his hands, gazing at him worriedly.

"You just want to chat?" he asked after a moment of silence. "How was school? Anything going on with your friends?"

"I'm not being bullied," Christopher said instantly.

Buck smiled at him. "I didn't ask that, buddy. I know you'd talk to us if that kind of thing was happening again."

Christopher nodded, reaching out a hand to play with one of Buck's curls. "Everyone's fine. Dylan wants to have a sleepover where we watch horror movies."

"What kind of horror movies?"

"Really old ones, like… _Scream._ I don't know what it's about."

Briefly Buck wondered if Christopher was too young to be watching horror movies, but he was nearly eleven. And from what he remembered of _Scream_ , it wasn't full of sex, so… maybe it would be okay? He'd talk to Eddie about it and decide whether it was a good idea.

Christopher still had a frown on his face, so Buck said, "You know, if you don't like horror movies, you don't have to watch them."

"But they'll think I'm lame—"

"First of all, there is not one single person on this planet who thinks _you're_ lame," Buck said loyally, which finally elicited a smile. "And kiddo, you don't have to do things you don't want to do. And you don't have to tell him the reason why you don't want to come to the sleepover, if you don't want to, okay?"

"I don't want to watch horror movies," Christopher admitted. "I don't think I'd like them."

"Your dad and I don't like them either." Buck smiled at him reassuringly. "And I heard you didn't do so well on a math test."

Christopher let out an exaggerated sigh. "No."

"I flunked a lot of tests in my day, kiddo."

He frowned, twisting his lips. "I'll figure it out."

"Math is hard."

"Uh huh." Christopher looked around the room, before heaving another sigh and turning onto his side, twisting his whole hand in Buck's curls and tugging. "Can your hair be like this all the time?"

"You know I've got to slick it back for work, make myself look all professional," Buck teased.

Christopher began to smile again. "I don't like it. I like it when it's curly."

"So does your dad."

"Then you should listen to us," Christopher declared, "because we know best."

"You only think you do," Buck whispered, and laughed when Christopher retaliated by shaking his head back and forth vigorously, still clutching a fistful of curls. "Okay, okay! You win."

~

Buck closed the door to their bedroom and pulled his shirt over his head, dumping it in the laundry hamper near the door. The room was a mess, with boxes and suitcases piled up on the floor. The walls were bare – their collection of photos already safely packed away – but their clothes were the real problem, and almost everything was muddled together.

Eddie slid to the edge of the bed and turned Buck to the side, examining his bruises. Tutting, he ran his fingers over the largest, darkest one on his hip and said, "I know I'm not supposed to be pissed off; I know I'm supposed to acknowledge that he's young and learning, but _fuck._ Fuck. _Fuck._ "

"I'm okay," he replied, brushing his fingers through Eddie's hair. "I'm all right, honey bunny."

Eddie was too pissed off to be annoyed by the nickname. He leaned in and kissed each one of the bruises individually, and then pressed soft, open kisses in a line from the tip of Buck's fingers to his shoulder. "Is it too much to ask if you don't do rope rescues without me?" Eddie whispered, gazing up at him hopefully.

Buck nodded, cupping his cheek. "You know I can't promise that."

Eddie grumbled under his breath, but nodded, resting his head on Buck's chest. Buck held him in silence for a few minutes, running his fingers through his hair until he lifted his head and kissed the three hearts tattooed on Buck's ribs.

"I'll train him up," Buck suggested. "Put in some real time with him, and this won't happen again."

"Better not." Eddie tugged Buck down until he was sitting on his lap, hooking his arms around his waist. "Did you talk to Chris when you put him to bed?"

"Yeah, for a little while," Buck replied. "He said he did badly on his math test, but that he'd figure it out – he seemed like he didn't really want to talk about it, so I didn't press him too much. I found the test in his workbook – it looks like he got just under half right? It seems a little odd to me because he was doing well in math last year."

"Me too," Eddie murmured, chewing on the inside of his lip. "Parent-teacher night isn't for a while, and I think it might be too early to call his teacher for a meeting. I'm better at math than you—"

"Are you?" Buck asked wryly.

"Not by much," he acquiesced, "but still. I'm thinking maybe I keep an eye on it? Make sure he's doing his homework, that kind of thing?"

"Probably a good idea for now," Buck agreed, rubbing his back. "I don't think there's anything else going on. He said he was excited about the lamp idea and the walkie-talkies, but he is concerned about the prospect of ghosts. I'm not sure where the ghost fear has come from."

"Someone at school?"

"He didn't say." Buck rested his chin on top of Eddie's head, rubbing his back. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, I bet. Let's get some sleep."

Buck stood up, but before Eddie could curl under the covers, he leaned over, cupped his face with both hands and said, "Darling, I love you so much."

Instead of cringing away from pet names like he usually did, Eddie leaned in, gazing up at him with pure, unabashed adoration. "I love _you._ "

"I hate not working with you."

"I know, I know. It's only for the next few weeks, until we get the house sorted. Then we'll get back into a routine."

"Good." Buck bent down to kiss him tenderly, running his thumbs along Eddie's cheekbones.

Eddie wrapped a hand around his bicep and tugged him into bed, pulling the covers up over them. He leaned over Buck and kissed him hungrily, reaching across to flick off the lamp, and once the lights were out, he whispered, "When we get into our new house, I'm going to rock your world."

"Yeah, you better," Buck murmured. "Once the exhaustion of the move wears off."

"It'll be Valentine's Day soon," Eddie said, kissing him again. "I want us to have a proper Valentine's Day together. Just the two of us."

"I'll book a restaurant."

"No, no – I'll do all that. You just talk to Bobby and make sure we have the night off." Eddie kissed him again, one last time, and curled around him. "Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too, honey bunny."

~

Buck strolled into the 118 the next morning and was immediately accosted by both Hen and Chimney, who dragged him over to the locker room and closed the door.

"What's going on?" he asked, bewildered.

"Hen told me you nearly fell on the ropes yesterday," Chimney said accusingly, "and she said this on speaker phone in front of your sister."

"In my defence I did not know you had me on speaker," Hen argued. "That's on you, Chim."

Buck checked his phone with a grimace. "She didn't call me."

"No, she's trying to be less worried because you're an adult and you're married, and apparently Eddie stormed in here to check you out," Chimney replied. "But you should probably call her and do some reassuring."

"Okay, okay," he replied good-naturedly, pulling his shirt up and over his head. "Yeah, I've got to talk to Cooper about it. He panicked. I was thinking I'd give him a run-through again—"

"I'll do it," Chimney announced. "I'm the best at it; I'll train him."

"Didn't you train him the first time?" Hen asked wryly, her arms folded across her chest.

"Yeah, maybe I should take over," Buck teased. "Teach the guy some new tricks."

"No, I can do it," Chimney replied, and then hissed when Buck turned around. "Jesus, Buck. You've got a massive bruise."

"You should've gone to the hospital for an x-ray," Hen chided him. "Are you sure your ribs are okay?"

"My breathing is fine, and I have normal range of movement," he replied, and demonstrated. "Obviously it's tender where the bruise is, but I think I'm okay."

"Buckley," Bobby said from the door, startling all three of them. "X-ray. Now. I can see that bruise from across the room."

"Aw, Cap, it's fine—"

"Call your husband and get him to take you to the hospital; that's an order. And don't come back here until you're cleared." Bobby pointed a finger at him, and Buck groaned, grabbing his shirt out of the locker again.

"Eddie's gonna love this," he muttered.

"You should've gone yesterday," Hen chided him.

"Yeah, yeah." He sent Eddie a text, grumbled when the inevitable _'I TOLD YOU SO'_ was sent in reply, and wandered out to the station to wait for him to arrive.

He was relaxing on the bench, scrolling through TikTok while he waited, when someone nervously cleared their throat from nearby. "Um, Buck, um…"

"Hey Coop," he replied, taking one Airpod out of his ear. "What's up, man?"

"I just wanted to say sorry, again," he said awkwardly, shuffling his weight from one foot to the other. "I should've stepped aside and let Hen take over, but… I just wanted to prove that I could do it."

"You've only been here a couple of months and this was your first big test – don't worry. You'll get another chance," Buck replied. "Chim and I will work with you, so this doesn't happen again. And honestly dude, I'm fine. I'm sure I don't have broken ribs. Don't worry about me."

Cooper looked relieved. He was only twenty-three, straight out of the academy – Bobby said he was right near the top of the class, so he was fit and strong. Smart too – he'd impressed Hen while watching _Jeopardy_ one day. Buck liked him well enough; he was a nice guy, kinda goofy looking with his big nose and ears but pleasant enough to be around, and eager to learn.

His phone lit up with a message from Eddie. _'I'm here xx'_

Buck stood, pocketing his phone. "I'll talk to you about it when I get back," he said, "and we'll do some training over the next few weeks."

"Just as long as we're good, you know?" Cooper said awkwardly. "I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know man – these things happen; it was a tough day. It's all good." Buck threw him a wave and loped out to the street, where Eddie was waiting in his truck.

~

His ribs were fine. No breaks or fractures, and he and Eddie made out for a few minutes before he returned to the station with a clean bill of health. Bobby looked relieved when Buck handed over the results, motioning for him to go back to work.

Maybe some of Eddie's nervousness had rubbed off on him – he found himself keeping a distance from Cooper, and when he realised what he was subconsciously doing, felt guilty. Cooper was young; he was still learning, and it had been an accident – Buck understood that.

But still, he didn't want to die on the job, and so, with Eddie's fears ringing in his mind, made the decision that he wouldn't be on the ropes without Eddie there running the pulley. He'd take a backseat and let the younger guys have their shot.

It was strange to think of himself as one of the more experienced members of the team, but he was no longer just a rookie. Buck had Bobby's full trust; he was on a path to taking on more responsibility, to one day become a captain – it was all in the pipeline for him.

So he had to be supportive and nurture Cooper; make sure that he didn't blame himself and that he would be able to do his job effectively the next time he had to run the pulley. He couldn't let his emotions control him – he had to be professional.

Buck wondered if he was growing up, and was down in the dumps on the drive to their new house, debating whether his youth was behind him – until he turned into the driveway and found Eddie and Christopher waiting on the lawn for him, both with water blasters and matching evil grins.

And Buck sort of forgot all about how old he was as he leapt out of the car and ran at them with delight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Maddie**

"So I heard all about your accident," she said, rolling up Buck's shirtsleeve again. "This is a nasty bruise."

"Accident," Eddie grumbled. "The rookie nearly killed him while he was running the winch, but I'm not allowed to be mad about it."

"You're doing a great job," Maddie replied smartly, and Eddie laughed.

Buck returned to the stove, flipping pancakes effortlessly. "So you're excited to see the progress today?"

"I'm disappointed that the most beautiful wallpaper in the world is gone," she teased them.

"Thinking of redecorating?" Eddie asked her with a grin.

She laughed. "Not that desperate, thank you. Oh, and by the way – Chimney's still smarting about losing to you at Words with Friends again. Maybe you could ease up on him a bit?"

Eddie shared a grin with Buck. "Never."

"He's pretty sure you're cheating," she remarked.

"No," Buck protested, leaning in to press a loyal kiss to Eddie's cheek. "My baby is very smart."

Eddie patted his butt, rolling his eyes affectionately before taking a seat across from her at the table. "So you were finally able to speak to Sophia. She sent me a message and said that she can't talk to me right now because she knows I'll just get mad and make her cry, so… that made me feel like shit."

"She didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Buck reassured him. "She knows how protective you are of her."

He rubbed his face glumly. "I guess. Did she say much to you, Maddie?"

Maddie nodded, feeling bad for the guy – and remembering vividly when Buck was in that same position and she hadn't wanted to talk to him either. "Yeah. They're still going to couples' therapy. Sophia said she doesn't want to split up; she wants to try to work things out and maybe move to LA, but… he doesn't want to move here, at all. He's firm about it. She also said that she wanted to help plan my wedding but he thought it would take up too much of her time and he'd rather her not do it."

"I bet she wasn't happy about that."

"She was crying, a lot." Maddie gave Eddie a long look. "I told her what happened to me. I told her about Doug. I offered to let her and the kids stay with us, and she turned me down. I told her I would send her plane tickets, and she said no. Eddie… I don't know what to do."

"We'll talk to Adriana and your parents again," Buck said to Eddie, who nodded up at him. He set down a plate of pancakes on the table in front of them, and added, "I know your mother is worried sick."

"Yeah, Mom rings to speak to Buck now," Eddie said dryly, as Buck chuckled and wandered out to the living room to bring Christopher in for breakfast. "They're best friends."

"Until she gets sick of me," Buck called.

Maddie helped herself to a couple of pancakes. "So things did go well at Christmas?"

"Not at first, but by the end, yeah." Eddie smiled as Christopher entered the room, pulling out his seat for him. "Christopher's a seasoned earthquake expert now."

"Number three," he said to Maddie proudly. "We had to evacuate again."

"You're getting very brave," she said admiringly. "Buck's still scared of them."

"Hey," Buck protested, settling into his seat beside Eddie. "It's only because I keep getting hurt in them."

"Well, the next one I'll take the hit, huh?" Eddie teased him, but Buck shook his head vigorously and leaned in to kiss him.

"Don't even joke," he warned.

Eddie patted his shoulder and looked over at Maddie again. "So, have you guys made any wedding plans? Chim was talking about having Buck as a groomsman."

"Yeah, about that," she said to Buck, who immediately sat up straight. "I'm not going to invite Mom and Dad."

"Wow," he replied. "Okay. I thought… I thought you might give them the benefit of the doubt."

"No, not after last time. We haven't spoken since Thanksgiving." Suddenly feeling a little emotional, Maddie twisted her hands together in her lap. "Buck, when I married Doug… you weren't a part of that wedding. That wedding was a big production, the big white dress, the parental speeches, the choreographed dances… all that stuff. It wasn't so much for _me_ as it was for Doug to show off how much we loved each other. You know it cost over fifty grand, right?"

Buck grimaced. "Yikes. Okay."

"Right. So… this time, I want things low-key. Chim and I have talked about this. We're both of a certain age, we have a child together, we've been living together for a while now… like, the jig is up. I'm not a blushing bride anymore," she said with a shrug. "But there's one thing I really want, and it would mean a lot to me if you would do it."

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

"I'd really like you to walk me down the aisle. I know Chim wants you to be a groomsman – you're very popular – but… you're my brother, and I—"

"Yep, I'll do it," Buck said, practically beaming with pride. "I'd be happy to."

"Oh, good," she replied, relieved. "I know Chim will be disappointed—"

"That's just an additional bonus," he said with a wink. "Now eat your breakfast, sis."

Conversation drifted to the new house – she was going to accompany them, and Chimney and Charlotte were going to meet them there after their morning playgroup. The rest of the team were coming for a lunch gathering, but mostly to inspect the new house. It was her first time seeing the place with fresh paint – according to Eddie, all that needed to be completed was the upstairs bedrooms. Downstairs was finished and ready to go.

When they were finished, and as Eddie cleared their plates and did the dishes, Max the cat wandered into the kitchen, hopping up onto Eddie's vacated chair and then onto the table. He promptly marched past Buck and Maddie and sat right in front of Christopher, who leaned in so their heads were touching.

"He's such a beautiful cat," Maddie said admiringly. "I bet you have to groom him."

"Buck's job," Eddie said from the sink.

"I have to groom him, trim his fur, make sure there are no knots, make sure his butt is clean—"

Christopher giggled, as Max began to purr loudly, rubbing his face on Christopher's chin.

"It's like he's your very own baby," Maddie teased him.

"Not quite as loud," Eddie commented. "And very well-behaved, most of the time."

"He sleeps with me every night," Christopher said proudly. "He's my cat."

"He picked you buddy, that's for sure," Buck replied. "Hey, should we bring him to the house today? We'll put him on his leash. He needs to see the new place."

Eddie chuckled. "You know Chim will hit the roof, right?"

"He's genuinely scared of him," Maddie said with a grin. "Like, actually, genuinely scared of this big fluffy baby."

Max suddenly flopped onto his back, paws in the air, so Christopher could rub his belly. Buck reached over to scratch under his chin and said, "He's just a choosy cat, that's all."

"He likes me," she pointed out.

"You're a Buckley, Mads. Much like the entire Diaz family, Max is attracted to us Buckley's," Buck said loftily, ignoring Eddie's snort of derision from the sink.

* * *

**Chimney**

"Please stop crying," he begged Charlotte as he lifted her portable car seat out of the back of the car. "I'm really not asking a lot. I know it's cold and you're tired, but Mom's inside, and she'll give you kisses, okay? Please stop crying for me."

Charlotte screwed her face up and let out an almighty wail. He slammed the car door shut and locked it, starting up the path to the house. The front door was wide open, and he'd just stepped over the threshold when Maddie appeared, dismayed.

"Oh no," she said. "Cranky girl! She must be tired."

"Big morning," he said apologetically. "She threw a tantrum while we were on the way here."

"Poor baby," Maddie said with an exaggerated frown. "I'll take her into the kitchen. The boys are upstairs in the attic."

"The attic," he repeated, confused. "Why?"

"I don't know, they've got a notebook and plans, and they have all these ideas," she said with a shrug. "Bobby and Athena shouldn't be too far away – they're bringing the food."

"Thank god for that," he replied, kissing her on the cheek before taking the stairs two at a time. He found the ladder stairs to the attic and climbed them, and was immediately confronted with their black-and-white hellion of a cat, which let out a hiss as soon as he joined them. As the traitors he'd formerly considered his brothers began to laugh at him, he couldn't help but squawk, "What's that thing doing here?"

"Visiting!" Christopher exclaimed proudly, wrapping his arms around the horrible cat, and hugging him tightly.

"Inspecting the new house," Eddie said from his position on the floor, holding out a measuring tape for Buck. "How's it going, Chim?"

"Well, it was good until this very moment," he replied, moving as far away from the beast as he could. "What are you doing up here?"

"Just working out how big the room is," Buck replied. "We've decided to get it painted as well."

"Why? You going to imprison someone up here?"

"Why did your mind go there, exactly?" Eddie asked him, screwing his face up. "Why would we do that?"

"I don't know what you two get up to in your spare time."

Buck rolled his eyes, shaking his head good-naturedly. "Look, the truth is that I hate attics," he admitted. "So instead of this being a horrible, dusty attic full of junk, we're turning it into a room. If it's just a room, it's not a horrible, scary, spooky attic."

"Ghosts," Christopher whispered to Chimney, who nodded seriously.

"Well, Buckaroo, it seems to me like you're holding onto some serious childhood trauma," he began, as both Buck and Eddie groaned in unison. "Maybe it's time to book into a therapist to really work through your issues."

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Buck said dryly.

~

By the time they'd given Chimney the upstairs tour, Bobby and Athena had arrived. He helped Maddie lay the food out on the outdoor table while Eddie gave them the grand tour. Moving day was fast approaching, but the boys had already started bringing boxes over. Chimney and Albert were helping them on moving day – Buck had roped them in with the promise of beer, but really, Chimney owed them both a favour. They'd gone above and beyond when he and Maddie were moving in together.

The hideous floral wallpaper was gone, and the walls were now a soft cream, almost with a touch of the lightest shade of pink. With fresh paint on the walls and new flooring installed, it looked like a completely different house – except the kitchen, which firmly remained in the eighties.

Christopher's room was a deep shade of blue, and Chimney had spotted several Ikea boxes and bags of decorations, ready to be hung on the walls. He had no doubt Eddie would make sure Christopher's room was perfect before allowing his son to move in. Christopher was seated at the table with the monstrous beast from hell on his lap, and Chimney could hear it purring from where he was seated at the end – as far away as he could manage.

The monstrous beast from hell was very interested in Charlotte, who was perched on Maddie's lap, staring at the cat with interest. Christopher had the cat on a leash, and when it hopped up on the table and wandered towards Charlotte, he couldn't help but say, "No, Chris. Please no."

"He's not going to hurt her," Maddie said, as the fluffy devil perched on the edge of the table and regarded Charlotte with evil amber eyes. "He's a beautiful boy." To illustrate her point, she reached out and scratched him behind the ears, and the vicious monster actually purred loudly and leaned into her touch, like the whore it was.

Chimney did not like the cat.

* * *

**Athena**

"Hen and Karen are on the way," she said to Bobby and Eddie as they descended the stairs.

"It's kind of a house-warming party but without the furniture, and the upstairs isn't finished," Bobby said with a chuckle.

"We'll have a proper house-warming eventually," Eddie replied, leading them out to the back patio. Food was laid out, and the rest of the group were waiting on them.

Athena stopped and took in their fluffy black and white cat, who was sitting like on the table like he owned it. "I hope that cat isn't going to be sitting there while we have lunch."

"Max does what he wants," Buck said with a grin.

She noticed Chimney eyeing the cat suspiciously as she settled into her chair, and couldn't help but say, "Is this the cat you're so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of it," he retorted.

"He is," Buck said, slipping into a seat beside Christopher and tugging on the leash until the cat wandered over to him. "Buddy, we'll put him inside while we have lunch, okay?"

"No," Christopher complained. "Can't he stay?"

"Tie the leash around Christopher's chair leg," Eddie suggested. "He'll stay close to Chris; he always does."

"Have you thought about re-homing him?" Chimney said, but when everyone turned to him sharply, he quickly backtracked. "Nope, it was a joke, bad joke, just a bad joke."

"Yeah, I should hope so," Eddie murmured, ruffling Christopher's hair as a familiar voice called through the house. "Oh, they're here. I'm off to do another tour. Save me some chicken," he said to Buck, who nodded.

Athena settled into her seat, leaning comfortably against Bobby's shoulder. This was where she liked to be, with the people she considered their extended family, and with everyone mostly happy and healthy. She'd heard about Buck's little accident at work, but aside from a scratch healing near his hairline, she could hardly tell that he'd been injured.

They were in a good patch, she realised. Everyone was doing well. Hen and Karen were considering taking in another foster child. Maddie had dropped a hint about maybe trying for another baby after the wedding. Buck and Eddie were still in the throes of wedded bliss, totally in love and enamoured with each other.

And even though she and Bobby had been married for almost three years, she still felt just as giddy about him as she had on their wedding day.

Things were good with her favourite people, and that was a comfort.

When Eddie returned with Hen and Karen, they dug into the food. Buck had divulged the location of his famous deli, so Bobby had stopped in there for some extras, but he'd spent the morning in the kitchen, whipping up some fried chicken, corn on the cob and an enormous potato salad. Buck had protested, but he'd wanted to do it – he loved cooking for the people he loved; and took great pleasure and pride in it.

"So, moving day," Chimney said to Buck and Eddie as they ate. "Are you hiring a truck?"

Buck nodded, wiping his mouth. "Chris is going to spend the day at Hen and Karen's," he said, "and after we drop him off, we're picking up the truck. We're hoping to have most of the smaller stuff here before the big day, and then we'll just need to bring over the big furniture."

"Shouldn't take too long," Eddie added. "A couple of hours. The worst part is going to be getting the furniture upstairs. Some of it weighs a ton."

"And then you have to think about the spare rooms," Hen said. "Are you going to pretty them up for guests?"

Buck grinned. "No, one of them will be a nursery, so we're not doing anything with it right now."

"Buck's too focused on making the attic look less haunted," Chimney teased.

"I promised the kid a ghost-free zone," he replied, sharing a smile with Christopher. "I keep my promises."

"And you're all healed up?" Athena asked him. "I heard about your little accident on the ropes."

"Accident," Eddie mumbled. "It wasn't Buck's fault."

"Coop's still learning," Buck said, nudging Eddie with his elbow. "He apologised, profusely. Might've cried a bit. He's a good kid."

Chimney dropped his fork onto his plate with a clatter. "Did I just hear you, Evan Buckley, say that someone is a _good kid_?"

Buck laughed. "Come on, I'm a husband and father now," he protested. "You can't possibly still think of me as a kid."

"I'll never stop thinking of you as a kid," Maddie said, shaking her head. " _Never._ "

"He still acts like one on a daily basis," Chimney teased, and he and Buck playfully glared at each other.

"So do you," Bobby said dryly, and at that, the whole table erupted with laughter.

* * *

**Eddie**

Over the following week, whenever they weren't at work, they were either at the new house or moving furniture to the new house. The old house was slowly being emptied, and aside from the large items of furniture, almost everything small that wasn't a necessity had already been moved in.

The painters finished the interior of the house, and new carpets were laid upstairs. Eddie and Buck decided they wanted to set Christopher's room up completely before they moved in, as a surprise for him, and so they kept him away from the house while they went about putting his room together. Buck had bought and framed new posters for the walls – Eddie had watched with amusement as he trawled through Etsy, searching for arty prints, and had finally settled on the solar system, dinosaurs and a space shuttle launch.

They had one of their favourite Hawaii photos framed and hung on his wall as well – the three of them at Hanalei Bay at sunset, the sky painted with pinks and oranges. Eddie had added a picture of Christopher and Shannon from the Christmas before she'd died, so his whole family was displayed right beside his bed. Buck had bought a new bookshelf and desk from Ikea, and they worked late one night to assemble both pieces of furniture – with only two minor squabbles about how it should be put together.

It was Thursday evening – Friday was to be their last night in the new house, and both Buck and Eddie would be working all day. Eddie flopped onto his back on the carpet in Christopher's room and watched as Buck finished setting up the bookshelf, before collapsing beside him.

"When this is all said and done," Buck mumbled, "you and I are going to a spa or something."

Eddie turned his head to the side, smiling at him. "Tired?"

"Yeah, a bit." Buck took his hand and squeezed it, letting out a sigh. "This slow move-in probably wasn't the smartest idea."

"Nah, it's given us time to set Christopher's room up, at least," Eddie pointed out. "We won't talk about our own bedroom."

"Nope." Buck lifted his arm to check the time. "We should go; it's getting late."

"Yeah," Eddie murmured, heaving a sigh. "All right."

Buck glanced at him. "You have something else in mind?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I kinda feel like having a shower…"

"You horny bastard," Buck said affectionately, and practically leapt to his feet. "Come on, we've got time. We've got to christen the place, after all."

Eddie held his hand out and Buck hauled him up, and then physically lifted him into his arms, leaning in for a kiss. Eddie let himself be carried down the hall to the bathroom – he'd never get sick of it, actually, and had no idea how much he'd enjoy it until Buck had picked him up for the very first time, in his loft, after their first date.

God, he _loved him._

Buck deposited him on the sink and pulled his t-shirt up and over his head, their lips sliding together hungrily. It'd been an unusual dry spell for them – packing and moving, plus Buck's injuries, hadn't left much time for romance – but he was begging for it, and every time their lips parted he couldn't help but murmur, "Please, please, baby, please…"

Buck nodded, kissing him again, deftly undoing his belt with both hands and yanking Eddie's jeans and underwear down his legs. Eddie grabbed a fistful of his shirt and clung to him, groaning when a hand wrapped around his cock. "Please," he begged again.

Buck released him, pulling away, lips swollen, and then lifted him up and off the sink. Eddie kicked off his jeans as they stumbled back against the wall, capturing Buck's lips in another desperate kiss. "Fuck me," he growled when they parted.

"I'm going to," Buck protested, and at that Eddie snorted with laughter and kissed him again.

He undid Buck's belt and yanked it free of the loops, reaching a hand into his pants to stroke him as they practically devoured each other. Buck set him down on the floor, his lips sliding from Eddie's lips to his chin to his throat, sucking a bruise into the nape of his neck before turning him to face the mirror.

"Sure?" Buck whispered in his ear, one hand sliding down his back.

"Yeah, yeah, we haven't got much time. Come on."

Buck pressed a hot kiss to the back of his neck, pausing to retrieve a packet of lube from his pocket. Eddie caught his eyes in the mirror and Buck grinned. "Always prepared," he said wryly. "Plus I knew we were going to fuck in here today."

"Oh, you did, huh?"

"Yeah, I knew you'd be begging for it," Buck teased him.

He smirked, pushing back against Buck insistently. "Fuck me then, if that's what you're gonna do."

So Buck did, slicking up his cock, deftly working Eddie until he was open before pushing inside. Eddie gripped the bathroom counter with both hands, unable to stop the ragged, desperate noises that were escaping his lips. They took a moment, a breath, and then Buck began to move, his hips snapping with each thrust.

Eddie hadn't realised how pent up he was – he was chasing pleasure, desperate for Buck to claim him, to fuck him until his legs stopped working. He suddenly flashed back to the early days in Buck's loft, when they were absolutely ravenous for each other, and how not being able to spend a night together had felt like torture.

Well, they were married, and life had taken over, which meant that sex at home was quieter, more subdued, and almost always at night. The last time they'd had sex during the day was in Texas on Christmas Eve, but Eddie hadn't been properly fucked in months and god, he'd missed it.

And then Buck was pulling out and turning him around; lifting him up. Eddie hooked his legs around Buck's hips, pressed up against the wall, and Buck drove his tongue into his mouth as he guided his cock back inside.

Holy fuck.

Eddie _shook_ , clutching at him, digging his fingernails in, furiously and frantically kissing him. It was hot and rough and tight and so, so good, and he fleetingly thanked the lord that Buck spent so much time lifting weights.

"Mine," Buck growled.

Eddie dug his nails into Buck's back and nodded breathlessly as Buck pounded him against the wall – the freshly tiled wall of their new house, fuck, but they'd wanted to christen it and by god, were they ever.

~

Somehow they ended up sitting side-by-side on the shower floor, with the water running on them, giggling helplessly, trading kisses. They'd have to leave – they were already asking too much of Carla – but Eddie just wanted to savour a few moments alone with his husband, who was kissing him sweetly.

Buck pulled away, still grinning, and licked his lips. "Well," he said, his eyes twinkling. "Okay. Two weeks is too long."

"Months for me," Eddie pointed out.

"Yeah, way too long." Buck rubbed his thumb along the line of Eddie's jaw. "You know what's funny? Well, it's dumb. No, I'm not going to say it."

"You have to now," he pointed out, reaching up to shut off the water. "I won't laugh."

Buck rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and then admitted, "I don't notice people anymore."

"Notice people?"

"Like, attractive people. You remember a few weeks ago when we responded to that nightclub and Cooper kept saying how hot all the women were? They were just faces in a crowd; I didn't even see them, but I did see your ass. And fuck, Eddie, your ass… it looks so fucking good in blue pants. Jesus Christ."

Eddie took his hand, smiling at him. "I think that's normal, baby. We're in love."

"I mean, Cooper kept saying stuff to me and I was just like, what are you talking about? They're _not Eddie._ "

He laughed. "God, what a compliment."

Buck leaned in, dropping a kiss to his shoulder, and said, "You are everything. My whole world."

He nodded, and whispered, "Well, darling, you're mine as well."

They smiled at each other, and then shared another lingering kiss.

* * *

**Bobby**

He noticed that Eddie was moving a little stiffly at work the next morning, as he bustled about the scene of a multiple vehicle pile-up. He was grimacing a bit as he moved debris out of the way, and Bobby was about to question him on it when Hen shouted for him to assist her.

Eddie forgotten, he ran to her side, and it was only when they were back at the station and Eddie was making himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen that he remembered. He couldn't have two of his best firefighters struggling with injuries, and worried that Buck and Eddie were spreading themselves too thin, with moving and working full-time.

"Are you okay?" Bobby asked him with concern, voice low so as not to alert the others. "Have you pulled a muscle or something?"

Eddie blinked at him in confusion, before a flash of realisation crossed his face. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head. "Buck and I were moving boxes in yesterday and putting together furniture in Christopher's room. We've been working at night to put his room together before he moves in."

"Oh," Bobby replied, not at all surprised that Buck and Eddie would want Christopher to be as settled as possible right from the outset. "That's a really good idea."

"Yeah, Buck even got this lamp so we can 'talk' to each other," Eddie replied, leaning on the counter. "It's connected to the internet so if Christopher touches his lamp downstairs, the one in our room will change colour. And we're going to hook-up walkie talkies so if he needs us, we can come running."

"You've thought of everything," Bobby said with a grin. "He's okay with the idea of you two having more kids?"

Eddie nodded. "We've talked about it a lot, and he seems excited to be a big brother. We haven't even started thinking about that yet… maybe not until the end of this year? I'm not in any rush. We haven't even been married for a year yet."

"Well, from what I understand, it does take time," Bobby replied. "Even if you do find someone to donate an egg, you still need to find a surrogate to carry the child, and that might not be easy."

"Yeah, I've done a little research but not much. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said with a shrug. "My sister was going to donate eggs but… she's going through a rough patch with her husband, and so I'm not expecting that to happen. But we'll see; I mean, I don't know. I'm more worried about getting us all moved into the house and cleaning out the old one right now."

"Fair enough," Bobby replied, glancing over at the stairs as Cooper appeared, wandering over to join the group watching football on TV. He noticed Eddie's jaw clench briefly and said, "Eddie."

Eddie blinked at him. "What?"

"He's a good kid; it was an accident."

"I know," Eddie replied innocently.

Bobby eyed him. "I'm sure you made mistakes when you were young."

He sipped his coffee and murmured, "Uh huh."

" _Eddie._ Buck's okay with it; you should be too."

"Buck's a lot more forgiving than I am."

* * *

**Buck**

Friday was their last night in the old house, but Buck had spent most of the day at the new house, completing Christopher's bedroom. He'd even been able to unpack most of their kitchen boxes in the afternoon, and when Eddie arrived, he found Buck arranging their mugs and glassware in the only cabinet with glass doors – clearly meant for displaying fancy china, but he put their mugs front and centre for easy access.

Eddie let out a low whistle. "Wow, you're killing it. I can't believe you did all this today."

Buck closed the doors and turned to him with a grin. "I just got in the zone. How was work?"

"It was fine. Chimney stood in dog shit this afternoon, so that really made my day," Eddie replied with a grin, pulling Buck in for a kiss. "Hi."

"Hi. You want to see the kid's room?"

"Definitely."

They trooped down the hall together. Buck flicked on the light in Christopher's room and stood back while Eddie wandered around, a fond smile on his face.

"He's going to like it, right?" Buck asked worriedly. "We'll bring the bed over first and I'll make it up—"

"Baby, don't worry so much," Eddie reassured him. "He's going to love it; I promise. Come on, let's pick up some food and go home."

"Last time to the old place," Buck said, kissing him on the forehead. "I'm going to miss it."

"Yeah, me too," Eddie murmured.

"It was the first place that felt like home to me, even before we were together. You and Christopher just… never made me feel like a guest," he admitted. "Even the loft didn't really feel like home, but your house did."

"Our house," Eddie corrected. "I started thinking of it as our house long before you moved in."

Buck smiled, swallowing hard. "So I'm going to miss it," he said, clearing his throat, looking around their new house, "but I suppose that home is anywhere that I'm with you and Christopher."

"That's right." Eddie kissed him sweetly. "Come on; let's go."

~

The truth was that Buck hadn't felt like he belonged anywhere until Eddie and Christopher had opened their world to him – their cosy little house, on their quiet street… it had felt like home from the first day he was invited inside. He remembered Christopher excitedly showing him his bedroom, yanking out books for him to look at and handing him toys until his arms were laden and Eddie was laughing at him from the doorway.

He remembered the first night, as Eddie put Christopher to bed, he'd lingered at the bookshelf, wondering if he should leave until a cold beer was pressed into his hand and he'd turned to find Eddie smiling warmly at him.

"You're welcome anytime," Eddie had said to him, and they hadn't even known each other for that long - only a few weeks. "Come over whenever you want. No invite necessary."

How easily they'd trusted each other; how quickly their friendship had bloomed. Now he couldn't imagine his life without Eddie by his side. Sometimes he'd flash back to that awful day where they'd lost Thomas and Mitchell, and the statement that had rattled around in his head for weeks afterwards _– "You don't find it. You make it."_

That was what they'd done, hadn't they? They had chosen to be together, built their family and made their life. Buck felt like he finally understood what that statement meant the day he and Eddie walked down the aisle and into their shared future. They were still working at it, even after almost two years as a couple – constant communication, solving problems together and overcoming whatever obstacles were in their way.

As they pulled up to their house, he marvelled at how much it still felt like home – how much pleasure the simple act of pulling into the driveway gave him. He remembered vividly how coming here had made him so happy, even before they were together; how the sting of being alone hurt less when he was with them. They were his people, and had been from the moment he and Eddie had met, even if he hadn't figured it out right away.

He was a little emotional as they went inside, greeting both Christopher and Carla before ducking down to their bedroom to shed a quiet tear and change into his sweats. If he cried in front of Eddie, well… he'd probably just make Eddie cry. His husband didn't have quite so tough an exterior anymore; a little more in touch with his emotions than he had been when they'd first met.

The place was practically empty; cleaned out. They'd spend a few hours transporting everything the next morning, and that would be it – this house would be empty. And then suddenly he felt stupid, because it was just a _house_. Eddie and Christopher were the reason it felt like a _home_ , and their new house would feel that way as well.

With that in mind, he bounded out to his family, and they ate pizza and watched a movie on Disney before turning in for the night. As Eddie tucked up against him in his usual nook, Buck ran his fingers through his hair until he fell asleep, staring up at the ceiling, filled with love and gratitude at the family he'd made for himself.

* * *

**Chimney**

Chimney had to grudgingly admit that the boys were well-prepared. When he and Albert arrived in the morning to help with the furniture removal, they found a moving truck parked in the driveway, a couple of hand-held trolleys and packing blankets – but best of all, Buck immediately handed them two breakfast sandwiches from his secret deli (that wasn't so much a secret anymore).

"Eddie is on his way back," he said as they sat around the dining table to eat. "He's just dropped Christopher and Max off with Hen and Karen for the day. We've already taken all the boxes around so it's only furniture, which means we should be done in a couple of hours. And you both get beer and pizza as a reward."

"Thank you," Albert replied through a mouthful of food. "I'll take it."

Buck grinned, settling into his seat. Chimney studied his brother-in-law and then said, "Were you going to tell me that Maddie asked you to walk her down the aisle?"

"I figured that was between you and her," Buck said diplomatically. "Sorry, pal. You're stuck with Bobby and Albert."

"Well, the thing is," Chimney said, leaning forward, "we may just have one each."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Maddie doesn't have a lot of close female friends aside from Adriana, and that's who she's leaning towards as being her matron-of-honour. You know they talk on the phone multiple times a week? I've never seen two people become such fast friends before."

"Me and Eddie," Buck pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "That's different."

"How? We were friends first," he said, as the front door opened, and Eddie stepped inside. "Eddie, tell him that you and I were best friends very quickly."

"We were best friends within the first couple of weeks, Chim," Eddie said dryly, bypassing them and into the kitchen. "Sandwich?"

"In the microwave." Buck took a bite of his sandwich, arching his eyebrows at Chimney. "See? When you know, you know."

"What have I missed?" Eddie asked from the kitchen.

"Maddie's thinking about asking Adriana to be her matron-of-honour."

"Don't tell her," Chimney said urgently. "I don't know what she's decided yet."

"Well, Adriana would love it, if that's what she decides. They're very close." Eddie joined them at the table with a bottle of water and his sandwich, leaning in to kiss Buck on the cheek before ripping open the packet. "How's Milo?"

"He's really good. Apparently, the food truck side of the business is doing especially well, and they're talking about adding a second truck," Buck replied. "But he's happy just staying in his shop. Also, I gave him a jar of Pepa's tomato relish, and he started eating it with a spoon. Should we introduce them?"

"No," Eddie said instantly. "Pepa'd steamroll him; come on. I wouldn't do that to Milo. I like him too much."

~

With breakfast finished came the job Chimney had especially been dreading ever since he'd agreed to help them, but even he had to admit that with four strong guys, and the fact that they'd already done most of the moving on their own, it took no time at all to pack everything in the back of the truck.

Soon Eddie's little house was empty, and both boys stood in the living room with their arms around each other, gazing around at the bare walls a little sadly.

"Nothing to be upset about," Albert said, leaning against the doorframe, smiling at them. "One chapter closes, and a new one begins. Let's get moving."

It was terribly annoying that his little brother, in addition to being handsome, very successful with the ladies and incredibly intelligent, was so goddamn wise as well. Sometimes a little bit of resentment bubbled up inside him, which he'd almost instantly feel guilty about, because the other incredibly annoying thing about Albert was how damn _nice_ he was, to absolutely everyone, which in turn made them all fall in love with him.

Chimney did not possess that ability himself, but it didn't matter. He had his people; his family, and by extension, Albert had them as well. If he was ever feeling worried about his position in the team, those fears were almost always assuaged by Buck. After all, Albert wasn't his only little brother.

* * *

**Christopher**

"Are you excited?" Hen asked as they pulled into the driveway of their new house. Max yowled from inside his cage in response. "I wasn't talking to you, Maximilian," she admonished him.

"I can't wait to see my room," Christopher said eagerly, sticking his fingers through the bars of his cage so Max could rub his head against them. "Dad said my room is ready for me to live in."

"Yeah, they've been working to fix it up for you," Hen replied, shutting off the car. "Let's go check it out!"

He could see that other people were there as well – Bobby's car was on the street, and Chimney's truck was parked across the road. Hen helped him out of the car and into his crutches, and she carried his backpack and Max's cat carrier up to the open front door.

"Hello," she called, kicking off her shoes before stepping inside. "Where is everyone?"

Footsteps thudded down the stairs. "Trying to put the bed together," Dad said. Despite the cool weather he was sweating, and his t-shirt was dirty and even ripped at the hem. "We took it apart okay, but now Chimney and Albert won't stop arguing about how to reassemble it. Hey kiddo! Did you have fun today?"

"Yes, can I see my room now?" he asked, full of nervous anticipation. "Please?"

Dad laughed. "Sure thing. Let's put Max on his leash and take him with us. Buck, Chris is home!" he called up the stairs.

"Be right down!" came Buck's distant reply.

"Do you think they need a woman's help?" Hen asked Dad, who laughed and nodded. "Then I better check things out."

Dad knelt on the floor, taking Max out of his cage, and fastening him into his vest. "What'd you guys get up to?"

"We dressed Max up and took pictures," Christopher replied, "and then we had lunch and watched a movie, and Max saw a bird through the window, and made that weird noise."

"The chirping noise?"

"Yeah! It was so funny," he said, as Buck descended the stairs. "Hey Buck!"

"Hey buddy," Buck greeted him. "Let's go look at your room!"

With Max on his leash, they traipsed down the hallway together. The door to his room was closed, but Dad stood to the side, waiting until Christopher was ready, and then opened it with a flourish. "Tada!"

_Wow._

He couldn't believe his eyes.

There was the deep blue he'd chosen for the walls, and the carpet was new and soft and looked like he could just sink into it. His bed and nightstand were there, and Buck's special lamp was right beside the bed where he could reach it easily, along with a green walkie-talkie.

Right beside his bed there were two new framed photos – one of him and his Mom at Christmas, and the other of him, Dad and Buck in Hawaii. He reached out to touch them, wishing that his mom could see how happy he was. He didn't notice Buck slide his arm around Dad's shoulders and kiss his cheek as he wandered further into the room.

There were some more new pictures on the wall, and some new toys as well – a big box of Lego, so they could build a space shuttle. His books were all in place in a brand-new bookshelf, and he even had a new desk! A white desk with pens, crayons, coloured pencils and books on it, all ready to go.

And then, right beside the window, was a big cat tree for Max – brand-new and way cooler than his old one. This one actually looked like a tree, and sure enough Max made a beeline for it, leaping onto the bed and then from the bed and up onto the first perch, forcing Dad to follow after him with the leash.

He was just in awe, looking around with his jaw hanging open. This was his room, that he was going to live in, and it looked _amazing._

"Well?" Buck asked nervously. "Do you like it?"

"I _love it,"_ he said, awestruck. "It's _awesome._ "

He heard Buck let out a sigh of relief and looked up at him with a smile. God, his dads were the best. They were just the best. He didn't know how they knew exactly what he needed and what he'd like, but they did, every single time.

"Thank you," he said to them, and they both began to look a little emotional. "I love it, thank you."

"You're welcome, buddy," Dad said hoarsely. "We just wanted to make it nice for you."

"It's the best thing I've ever seen in my whole life aside from Max."

Max, now at the very top of the cat tree, looked around his new kingdom and yawned.

* * *

**Eddie**

By 7pm, they had successfully cleared all of their friends out of their house and were eating pizza together at the dining table – now in a room much too large for it, but they would deal with that later.

Christopher kept looking around with a smile on his face, as though he couldn't believe it. Eddie had a smear of dirt on his cheek and his hair was a mess, and he rested his head on his hand as he ate, tired but happy. Buck had devoured four slices of pizza when he let out a burp that made Christopher giggle, and then Eddie followed it with an even louder, more drawn-out of one of his own, and suddenly Christopher was squealing with laughter.

"No," Buck warned Eddie, who raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm the king of burps."

Eddie smirked. "I think you'll find I am, buddy."

"Oh, really, pal?" Buck countered, downing a mouthful of Coke before ripping a loud, long burp of his own.

But Eddie was already shaking his head, as Christopher doubled over in hysterics, and said, "No, you cheated. You used soda! It's cheating."

"Well go on," Buck countered. "Do one without."

Eddie held up a finger, dropping his head to his chest and concentrating. Both Buck and Christopher were silent, waiting with bated breath, until Eddie lifted his head, opened his mouth and let out an enormous, elongated burp. He raised his eyebrows at them smugly, and asked, "Think you can do better?"

Buck groaned, throwing his hands up. "No! Okay, fine. You win."

"Thank you." Eddie grinned at them, reaching for another piece of pizza. "It's a gift," he said to Christopher, who was still giggling with his hands over his mouth. "And one day I will teach you my ways."

"I think it's more like you're just full of gas," Buck said smartly, delighting in the way Eddie's eyes lit up with mischief. Oh, he was going to pay for that.

~

"Full of gas, huh," Eddie said when they were alone in their disaster of a bedroom – they'd haphazardly put sheets on the bed, but everything else was piled up in bags and boxes.

Buck nodded, as their lamp lit up in a soft blue. Christopher was thinking of them, so Buck reached out and touched it to send a reply.

Eddie sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the room, and said quietly, "I know he's right downstairs, but… it feels so weird. We checked the locks on his windows, right?"

"Yes," Buck replied patiently. "Double and triple checked. The walkie talkie is charged, and he has the lamp. I can be downstairs in ten seconds if I need to."

"He's growing up," Eddie said, giving Buck a stricken look. "My little boy is growing up."

"Yep. He'll be a teenager before we know it. Girlfriends," Buck said knowingly, and Eddie heaved a sigh. "Or maybe boyfriends."

"I don't care; whatever makes him happy. His happiness is all I want." Eddie pulled his shirt over his head, settling back against the pillows with a yawn. "So tomorrow I'll work up here and you work downstairs."

"Yep," Buck agreed as he stripped out of his clothes and crawled into bed beside Eddie. "And then we're both back at work together on Monday."

"Mmm, good," Eddie replied, flipping off the light. The lamp lit up again in a soft pink and he smiled, reaching over to tap it in reply. "He better go to sleep soon. I think he's too excited. I hope he'll be okay. Should I go sleep on the floor maybe?"

"Let's just see how he goes," Buck suggested. "He'll call us if he needs us."

Eddie nodded, glancing at the walkie-talkie on the bedside table. "Okay, I'll stop worrying."

"No, you won't. You're a dad." Buck leaned in to kiss him. "Night, my love."

"Goodnight, baby."

* * *

**Buck**

Buck was up with the dawn on Sunday morning, waking Eddie with kisses before heading down to check on Christopher – who was still asleep, sprawled out on his bed with Max perched near his pillow, curled up in a ball.

So they'd survived the first night in their new house. Buck made coffee and carried a mug upstairs for Eddie before ducking into the shower. Afterwards, he headed out to pick them up some breakfast, returning to find that both Eddie and Christopher were out of bed, showered, and waiting for him.

They'd just finished breakfast when both Pepa and Abuela stopped by for a tour and to pick up Christopher, so Buck left Eddie to it while he began to unpack and rearrange the living room. When they left with Christopher, Buck had to contend with Max, who followed him around non-stop as he worked his way through the boxes. Music was pumping through his Bluetooth speaker, and upstairs he could hear a thud from Eddie every so often.

Buck had finished rearranging the furniture, hung the TV on the wall and was shelving books when Max decided that it was the perfect time to try to climb the curtains – the next thing he knew there was a black, fluffy blob leaping up at the window, and when he looked over he found the cat hanging onto the material with both front paws, before slowly sliding down, claws tearing through the worn material as he slowly sank to the floor.

Buck rested his hand on his hip, sighing. "Are you serious, Max? We weren't planning to replace the curtains for another few weeks – now look what you've done!"

Max sauntered away, tail in the air, as if he'd done nothing wrong.

"Excuse me," Buck called after him. "Excuse me? Sir? I know you don't think you're getting away with this."

The cat stopped and turned around, sitting neatly on the floor with his tail wrapped around his legs.

"I'm lecturing you," Buck berated him. "That was a bad thing to do, Maximilian."

Max yawned at him.

"What'd he do?" Eddie asked, leaning over the stair railing. "Why are you yelling at him? Did he pee on the floor?"

"No, he ripped the curtains."

Eddie laughed. "Oh, well, that makes two of us, and I kind of snapped the curtain rod in our room, so… it's a bad day to be curtains in this house. How are you going, babe?"

He stepped out to where he could see Eddie, and stopped in his tracks. Eddie was wearing the _crop top_ Buck had bought for him for Halloween. "What are you wearing?"

Eddie looked down at himself and grinned. "Nothing," he said innocently.

"You weren't wearing that this morning," Buck accused, taking a step closer. "What's going on?"

"I made the bed." Eddie tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows. "Want to come have a look at our bedroom?"

Buck flicked off the music and strode over to the stairs, greeting his husband with a kiss before following him up to the master bedroom. Eddie had put in the hard work – their clothes were neatly folded and put away or hung in the wardrobe, their bed was neatly made and all the clutter was gone, except for the picture frames neatly piled up on the floor, ready to be hung on the wall.

Eddie smiled at him proudly. "Good?"

"Beautiful," Buck said, and kissed him. "Now take your clothes off and let's christen this room while we can."

* * *

**Eddie**

Eddie had only just set foot onto the balcony at the station, one step in front of Buck, when Hen called from the kitchen, "When's the housewarming party?"

"Oh my god, we just moved in," Buck complained.

"Did you get everything put away? You don't need any more help, do you?" Chimney asked suspiciously.

"No, we're good," Eddie replied, clapping him on the shoulder. "And thank you again."

"You're welcome." Chimney patted him on the back. "How's Christopher going in his new room?"

"Well, we had a very small middle-of-the-night freak out last night," Buck said from the fridge. "The smoke alarm nearest to Christopher's room began to chirp with a low battery, right at about 3am. So he woke up, thought the house was burning down and promptly called us on the walkie-talkie—"

"And the first we heard of it was when we were startled out of a dead sleep to him screaming that the house was burning down," Eddie finished, dropping into a seat at the table. "So I'm out of bed and down the stairs before Buck had fully comprehended what was going on—"

"In my defence, for the first few seconds I did think I was dreaming."

"And I get down there and hear the chirping, instantly figure it out and have to calm him down."

"So then he came upstairs and spent the night with us, but I think I might've only gotten another hour of sleep," Buck replied. "And then Max decided he'd have to come into the room as well, so yeah. We'll figure it out."

"I put new batteries in all the alarms this morning," Eddie said, and couldn't help but yawn. "So that's done, at least."

"And the cat ripped one set of curtains and Eddie wrecked another," Buck added, rubbing his face. "But other than that, it's going really well."

* * *

**Cooper**

He could hear them all laughing at something Buck and Eddie were saying from where he was working out in the gym, and glanced up at the balcony. He could see Buck clearly, leaning against the railing, all long legs and toned arms. God, he loved it when Buck wore the short shirt sleeves – those biceps, those shoulders? To die for. The man was built like a _god._

It was just too damn bad that he'd joined the team when he had, only to discover that this perfect specimen of a human man was a newlywed and madly in love with Eddie Diaz, who was… _fine._ If you liked that sort of thing – kinda broody, kinda moody with a sense of humour drier than the Sahara Desert.

And yet Buck, the most gorgeous man he'd ever met in his _life,_ was married to him – and not only that, he was absolutely enamoured with the guy. Like, couldn’t take his eyes off him, had to be near him almost all the time.

What a waste.

* * *

**Eddie**

Eddie jogged down the stairs with Hen at his heels, on a mission to grab some coffees for the rest of the team. He heard Cooper call out to Buck as he left, but Hen hooked her arm through his and said, "How's your sister?"

"Sophia?" he asked with surprise.

"Yeah, Maddie said she's been worried about her."

"Well, last I heard she's doing okay," he replied. "I spoke to my mom on the phone last night and she said that they're still going to therapy, so maybe they'll be able to work through their issues. I know my sister, she's probably not going to want to split up, but it's tough. He's a dick."

Hen laughed. "Buck told me what he was like when you guys were in Texas."

"Yeah, and… it kinda took me by surprise; he never used to be like this. Unless he was just better at hiding it, I don't know. Anyway, I think everyone is doing all they can – it's up to her to make the decision. I'll support her in whatever she decides to do."

By the time they returned to the station with the coffees, Hen had filled his head with gossip about Lena's station – the captain had allegedly walked in on some group sex in the bunk room in the early hours of the morning, and was trying to keep it quiet – and Eddie was puzzling about who the hell would even want to do that when he realised that Buck was in the gym with Cooper, his back to the probie as he did bicep curls. Eddie stopped, just out of Cooper's line of sight, and watched the younger man openly rake his eyes over his husband's body, as though Buck was something to be devoured.

Eddie was aware that one of his failings was that he was possessive and territorial about his husband, and that Bobby had already warned him not to be a dick around Cooper, but watching him drool over his husband made something inside his brain snap.

Still, he had to be cool, so instead of marching up and dragging Buck away like a caveman, he decided to be subtle. Instead, as he walked through the station, he caught Buck's eye, flashed him a smile and tilted his head towards the back carpark.

Buck's eyes lit up. He immediately set down the weight and abandoned what he was doing, jogging over to the locker room, presumably for a quick shower and to change. Eddie sipped his coffee and kept his head down as he walked past Cooper, who said nothing as he passed by.

_Fucker_ , he snarled in his mind, once he was out into the sun. Eyeing his husband like he was some kind of snack? Absolutely fucking outrageous.

Eddie didn't have to wait long – Buck must've had the shortest shower in history, because only a few minutes had passed when he emerged into the sunlight, in his long-sleeved uniform, buttons done in such a hurry that they were crooked.

"Aw, baby," Eddie said with a laugh, pulling him in so he could fix his shirt. "What'd you think I wanted out here?"

"To make-out where no one can see us," Buck said impishly, leaning in for a kiss.

Eddie straightened his shirt and tucked it in, cupping his face with both hands. "Valentine's Day is next week," he said seriously, and Buck nodded. "I have plans."

"You have plans," Buck teased. "I have better plans."

"Your plans better not clash with my plans."

"Actually, I think my plans will complement your plans nicely," Buck replied loftily, and kissed him again.

That prickly feeling of possessiveness dissipated, and Eddie relaxed, melting into his husband's arms. _Let him look_ , he thought derisively. That's all it would ever be.

~to be continued....~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Kat ([cinematicnomad](https://cinematicnomad.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr) for all your help!
> 
> Talk to me @ Tumblr: [woodchoc-magnum](https://woodchoc-magnum.tumblr.com/) \- my inbox is open!


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